Project description
Investigating motor control in zebrafish
The ability of animals to move is essential and relies on dedicated circuits within the central nervous system. While the brain coordinates muscle movements, particularly in the brainstem, the mechanisms behind generating and adjusting final commands remain a critical question. The ERC-funded ENSEMBLES project aims to test a new hypothesis on motor control, focusing on interactions between brainstem and spinal circuits during adult zebrafish locomotion. The project will employ a combination of all-optical techniques, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq), and electrophysiology at single-neuron resolution. These efforts seek to unravel how these circuits collaborate, offering transformative insights into motor control and potentially reshaping current understanding, while providing a new model for movement control and adaptability in vertebrates.
Objective
Movement is the shared language of behavior across the animal kingdom, orchestrated by dedicated circuits throughout the central nervous system. To survive, animals must move with a high degree of flexibility, requiring precise and rapid changes in speed and trajectory. This flexibility of locomotion depends on the brain's ability to select appropriate motor programs and coordinate body and appendage muscles to match the locomotor movement parameters to the behavioral context. In particular, the brainstem has been identified as the major site for shaping motor commands to provide this flexibility. A key, unsolved question is how the final brainstem commands are generated and adjusted. In this project, we will test a new hypothesis that challenges current views in motor control, namely that the final motor commands driving the flexibility of locomotion movements are the combined product of precise interactions between circuit ensembles in the brainstem and real-time feedback from the spinal circuits. Our approach harnesses the powerful combination of all-optical techniques, scRNAseq, and electrophysiology at single-neuron resolution to determine the principles of circuit integration within and across brainstem circuits in adult zebrafish. This innovative approach will allow us to uncover circuit function, at a level of resolution that has never been achieved before, in a behaving vertebrate animal. By performing a system-wide analysis at single-cell resolution, we expect to gain unique insights that will transform existing views in the field of motor control. This project will chart a novel, system-wide circuit blueprint for movement control and flexibility in vertebrates.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
171 77 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.